The present invention relates to shoes for use in training an infant to walk and a method of training an infant to walk using such shoes.
The majority of infants learn to walk at some time between the age of 9 and 17 months, with the average age being at about one year. It will be appreciated that this range of ages is not well-defined. Some infants learn to walk before the age of 9 months while others may not learn to walk by 17 months of age. Clearly, the range of ages at which infants learn to walk is quite broad.
Infants learn to walk largely by trial and error. In order to learn how to walk, infants must learn how to coordinate their muscles to support their weight and keep it balanced over their feet. Learning to walk can be a rather difficult endeavor for an infant regardless of the age at which they begin walking. Infants who are learning to walk tend to fall quite frequently, which can result in temporary pain, embarrassment, and/or a fear of falling. Frequent falling and lack of success can adversely affect an infant""s confidence and determination, and can discourage the infant from continuing to try to learn to walk.
There is scant prior art addressing the difficulties encountered by infants as they learn to walk. McDermott, U.S. Pat. No. 2,724,193, discloses a walking aid for youngsters that comprises a platform or board that is strapped to the shoes or feet of a youngster. McDermott teaches that while the platforms may be likened to a sole, the invention resides primarily in their shape as shown in the figures accompanying the patent. When a platform according to McDermott is secured to a user""s shoe or foot, it extends beyond the outer side of the user""s foot to provide additional lateral support, but it does not extend beyond the toe, inside line, or heel of the user""s foot.
Hirasawa et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,803, discloses an infant shoe that include a 0.5 mm-1.0 mm thick board placed on the flat sole of the shoe so as to extend across the infant""s heel to base of the fifth toe. Hirasawa et al. teaches that this board provides a rigid support over the full heel width and forward along the outer edge of the infant""s foot. This board does not, however, extend beyond the periphery of the infant""s foot on any side, and thus does not provide any additional support beyond the conventional area of the sole.
The present invention provides a shoe for use in training an infant to walk. The shoe according to the present invention comprises an upper sized to receive an infant""s foot, with the upper being attached to a sole. The sole extends a distance D1 beyond a front side of the upper adjacent to the toes of the infant""s foot, with the distance D1 being defined as being from about 10% to about 30% of the length L of the infant""s foot measured from heel to toe. Preferably, the sole also extends a distance D2 beyond a rear side of the upper adjacent to the heel of the infant""s foot, with the distance D2 being defined as being from about 5% to about 15% of the length L. Preferably, the sole of the shoe also extends a distance D3 beyond a first portion of an inner side of the upper adjacent to the ball of said infant""s foot, with the distance D3 defined as being up to about 30% of the width W of the infant""s foot measured across the ball of the infant""s foot. More preferably, the sole extends a distance D4 beyond an outer side of the upper adjacent to the ball of the infant""s foot, with the distance D4 defined as being up to about 30% of the width W. The sole of the shoe according to the invention preferably has a smoothly blended arcuate perimeter.
The present invention also provides a method of training an infant to walk. The method according to the present invention comprises fitting a shoe on each foot of the infant, with each shoe including an upper sized to receive the infant""s foot and a sole that is attached to the upper. The sole of each shoe extends a distance D1 beyond a front side of the upper adjacent to the toes of the infant""s foot, with the distance D1 being from about 10% to about 30% of the length L of the infant""s foot measured from heel to toe. The method further includes encouraging the infant to walk while wearing the shoes and removing a portion of the sole of each shoe so as to proportionally decrease the extent to which the sole extends beyond the upper as the infant learns to walk. Preferably, the sole of each shoe is provided with indicia that demarcates the amount of the sole that should be removed in order to proportionally decrease the extent to which the sole extends beyond the upper as the infant learns to walk.
The infant shoes according to the present invention are highly useful for training infants to walk. Infants wearing the shoes according to the invention have an easier time balancing their weight over their feet and have greater stability due to the xe2x80x9coversizedxe2x80x9d nature of the soles. Surprisingly, applicant has found that the portion of the sole extending beyond the front side of the upper adjacent to the infant""s toes does not interfere with walking and does not cause infants to trip. Infants who learn to walk while wearing the shoes according to the invention fall less frequently and meet with greater success in a shorter period of time. By reducing the number of falls, infants quickly gain confidence and learn to walk much faster than without using the shoes. As the infant""s confidence and walking ability improves, a proportional amount of the sole extending beyond the upper can be gradually removed in stages until the shoes have a xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d appearance.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the present invention may be employed.